Wyeth exhibit at YSU

If you don’t see it now, you’ll have to travel to Japan to see the Andrew Wyeth Watercolors and Drawings exhibit at The Butler Institute of American Art.

Kathy Earnhart, the Butler’s director of public relations, said the collection was purchased by Japan’s Suzuki family in the early ‘90s and will be returning to Marunuma Art Park in Asaka City, Japan, permanently after it leaves the Butler in December.

This is the last time this collection will be viewed in the United States, Earnhart said. The Butler is its third venue, and the only free exhibit of the works.

The collection is based on a family from Port Clyde, Maine, specifically, the children, Avaro and Christina. Earnhart said Wyeth, who met the family through his wife, was particularly fascinated by Christina and her self-sufficiency. Christina suffered from an undiagnosed degenerative disorder and was crippled her entire life.

Wyeth’s most famous piece, “Christina’s World,” is one of the most well-known works of American art, Earnhart said. It shows Christina holding herself up in a field, looking toward the Olson house, displaying both Wyeth’s admiration of Christina as well as inspiration for anyone who’s had to muster up the strength to persevere in this difficult world.

“ ‘Christina’s World’ catapulted Wyeth to fame,” Earnhart said. “[The finished collection] is in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.”

The Suzuki collection includes finished watercolors as well as Wyeth’s preliminary notations and detailed studies to show his steps in creating his masterpiece. According to the Butler, Wyeth is known for “creating symbolic works that converge between real and abstract techniques.”

Aside from Christina and Avaro, Wyeth also obsessed over their home. Used as the focus in many of his paintings, the Olson House has since been turned into a museum.

According to The Butler, Wyeth stated, “The Olsons and Christina really were to me symbols of New England and Maine, and ancient Maine.... That’s what really got me into the Olson’s environment. I just couldn’t stay away from there. I did other pictures while I knew them, but I’d always seem to have to gravitate back to the house.”

Earnhart said he is often referred to as the “painter of the people” and his life inspires artists in all stages of their lives.

“Wyeth is inspired by his environment,” Earnhart said. “He paints what he knows. He paints his world.”

The Andrew Wyeth Watercolors and Drawings exhibit will be at the Butler Institute of American Art until Dec. 16.